1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of operating IPv4-network-compatible applications on an IPv6 network, a packet generation method, an IP-network-dedicated translator and an NAT (Network Address Translator) as well as a recording medium having a packet generation program recorded thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
Among the protocols for the network layers employed in the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP (Internet Protocol) communications, the one most familiar in the present state of the art is the IP. At present, the IP of version 4 (hereinafter referred to as the IPv4) is prevailing. Although the IP is currently winning popularity more and more at a high rate in various communication service fields, keeping step with spreading of the internet, the IP nevertheless confronts a serious problem in respect to the exhaustion of IP address.
As measures for solving the above problem, there are proposed currently such a provisional solution that private address space of the IPv4 is locally provided for local LANs (Local Area Networks) as well as an IP of version 6 (hereinafter referred to as the IPv6). In the present state of the art, a large scale LAN is being realized in which there coexist mixedly the LANs conforming to the IPv6 and the LANs conforming to the IPv4, respectively. As a document concerning the standards for the interconnection of the IPv6-based LAN and the IPv4-based LAN, there can be mentioned “RFC1933”. According to the RFC1933 (Transition Mechanism for IPv6 and Routers; R. Gilligan, 1996, April, IETF), interconnection of the IPv6 network is rendered possible by mapping the IPv4 address to the IPv6 address.